Armour of God (film)

Armour of God (Chinese: 龍兄虎弟; also known as Operation Condor 2: The Armour of the Gods in the United States) is a 1986 Hong Kong action-comedy film written and directed by Jackie Chan, who also starred in the film. The film co-stars Alan Tam, Lola Forner and Rosamund Kwan.[1]

Armour of God
Hong Kong film poster
Traditional龍兄虎弟
Simplified龙兄虎弟
MandarinLóng Xiōng Hǔ Dì
CantoneseLung4 Hing1 Fu2 Dai6
Directed by
Produced by
Written by
Starring
Music by
  • Michael Lai
  • Tang Siu Lam
Cinematography
Edited byPeter Cheung
Production
company
Distributed by
Release date
  • 16 August 1986 (1986-08-16) (Japan)
  • 21 January 1987 (1987-01-21) (Hong Kong)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryHong Kong
LanguageCantonese
Box officeUS$15 million (est.)

The film features Chan's kung fu, comedy and stunts, with an Indiana Jones-style theme. Chan came the closest he has ever been to death in this film during a relatively routine stunt; he leaped onto a tree from a ledge, but the branch he grabbed snapped, sending Chan plummeting and cracking his skull.[2][3] The film was followed by the sequel Armour of God II: Operation Condor in 1991.

The film was the highest-grossing film in Hong Kong at the time.[4]

Plot

Jackie, a.k.a. "Asian Hawk", is a former musician who becomes an adventurer and treasure hunter. After successfully stealing a sword from an African tribe, he has the weapon auctioned before it is won by May Bannon, the beautiful daughter of Count Bannon. He is reunited with his former bandmate Alan, who seeks his help as his girlfriend Lorelei has been kidnapped by an evil religious cult as a means of acquiring Jackie's services. The cult possesses two pieces of a legendary armour called the "Armour of God", and they intend to have Jackie bring them the three remaining armour pieces, including the sword. Jackie and Alan strike a deal with Count Bannon, who is in possession of the three armour pieces: they will borrow the armour pieces for their quest to rescue Lorelei with a promise to complete the armour for the Count, on the condition that May accompanies them.

Jackie, Alan and May travel into Yugoslavia to find the cult's monastery. They infiltrate the hideout and secretly rescue Lorelei, unaware that the cult leaders have anticipated their arrival and brainwashed her to do their bidding. At May's rest home, Lorelei drugs Alan and has him steal the three armour pieces. Jackie sneaks back to the monastery and rescues his friends. As Alan and Lorelei make their escape, Jackie fends off against the cult members before discovering the Armour of God in a cave. Before he gets a chance to take the armour, he encounters the Grand Wizard, who unleashes his four female assassins on the adventurer. Exploiting their high-heeled shoes as their weakness, Jackie defeats the assassins in a gruelling fight. Jackie is then surrounded by the rest of the Grand Wizard's men, but he reveals a vest filled with sticks of dynamite under his jacket, threatening to blow himself up with the monastery. After a couple of bluffs, he carelessly lights up the fuse and throws away the sticks of dynamite, running for his life as the monastery quickly begins to cave in, burying the entire cult and the Armour of God. He runs out of a cave and spots a hot-air balloon with Alan, Lorelei, and May aboard. In a daring move, Jackie does a base jump off the cave and lands on top of the balloon, ending the movie.

Cast
  • Jackie Chan as Jackie a.k.a. "Asian Hawk", a treasure hunter and former member of the pop group "The Losers" (an allusion to '70s Cantopop band The Wynners)[5]
  • Alan Tam as Alan, a former member of The Losers who has moved on to a successful solo career
  • Lola Forner as May Bannon, the daughter of a powerful European Count
  • Rosamund Kwan as Lorelei, Alan's girlfriend and a former member of the Losers who is a prominent fashion designer
  • Božidar Smiljanić as Count Bannon, May's father
  • Ken Boyle as Grand Wizard, the leader of the evil religious cult
  • John Ladalski as Lama
  • Robert O'Brien as the African witch doctor
  • Boris Gregoric as Jackie's representative at the auction
  • Mars (extra) (uncredited)
  • Kenny Bee
  • Carina Lau
  • Anthony Chan

[6] [7]

Production

Armour of God was filmed on location in parts of what was then Yugoslavia: Zagreb (Dolac Central Market), Upper town, Trnje (near the then-unfinished building of Croatian Radio Television), Croatia, and Predjama Castle near Postojna, Slovenia. Filming was also undertaken in Graz, Austria, France, Spain and Morocco. During filming of the opening sequence, one scene called for Jackie Chan to jump from a wall to a tree branch. The first take went as planned, but Chan insisted on re-shooting the scene. On his second attempt, the branch broke and he fell 5 metres to the ground below. His head hit a rock, cracking his skull and forcing a piece of bone up into his brain. Chan was flown to the hospital and was in surgery eight hours later. As a result, he now has a permanent hole in his head filled with a plastic plug and slight hearing loss in one ear.[2][3] Chan replaced Eric Tsang as director following the accident.[8] Footage of the accident is shown during the film's ending credits.

While shooting the hot air balloon jump, Chan skydived out of a plane and landed on top of the balloon instead of jumping off a cliff as is seen in the film. For the shot of him jumping off the cliff, the crew rigged him up to a wire as he had no experience of BASE jumping.[3]

Release

Armour of God was released in Japan in mid-1986,[9] specifically on 16 August 1986.[10] The film was released in Hong Kong on 21 January 1987.[11]

Reception

Box office

In Hong Kong, the film grossed HK$35,469,408[11][12] (US$4,548,526).[13] It was the highest-grossing film in Hong Kong at the time.[4] In Japan, the film grossed ¥1.36 billion [10] (US$9.4 million ).[14] In Taiwan, it grossed NT$13,504,585[15] (US$472,188).[16] In South Korea, it was the top-grossing foreign film of 1987,[17] with 208,462 ticket sales,[18] equivalent to an estimated ₩729,617,000[19] (US$886,999).[20] In total, the film grossed an estimated US$15,307,713 in East Asia.

Critical response

The film received positive reviews,[21][22] with an approval rating of 78% on Rotten Tomatoes based on nine reviews.[23]

In 2014, Time Out polled several film critics, directors, actors and stunt actors to list their top action films.[24] Armour of God was listed at 81st place on this list.[25]

Versions

In Asia, some versions of the film had Alan Tam's song "Lorelei" playing during the end credits whereas others had Jackie Chan singing "Flight of the Dragon (aka High upon High)". Tam and Chan recorded both songs in Cantonese and English and their English versions were featured in the export English dubs.

In the United States, Armour of God did not receive a theatrical release.[26] The film's sequel, Armour of God II: Operation Condor (1991), was released under the simplified title Operation Condor. Armour of God was subsequently released direct-to-video by Miramax Films, but the title was changed to Operation Condor 2: The Armor of the Gods; at the time of its release it served as a prequel, despite being the first film. A new musical score was created for this release, and a new English dub (with the participation of Chan).

Nine minutes of cuts were made to the Miramax version, including:

  • The concert scene of Jackie's band The Losers.
  • Jackie's dream sequence.
  • The scene in which May, disguised as a prostitute, encounters a monk who wants to sleep with her.
  • An extended version of the slapstick sequence in which Alan hides in May's room. The scene also includes a brainwashed Lorelei attempting to seduce Jackie.

These same cuts were evident in the Spanish Region 2 release, but DVD releases in Hong Kong, Australia and the rest of Europe are uncut.

Awards and nominations

See also

References
  1. Crow, Jonathan. "Armour of God". Allmovie. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  2. Jackie Chan. "Jackie's Aches and Pains: It Only Hurts When I'm Not Laughing". Random House. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  3. "Jackie Chan's Craziest Moments". Empire. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  4. "Top 20 All-Time Grossers (Chinese films)". Variety. 1 February 1989. p. 119.
  5. Thomas, Brian (2003). VideoHound's Dragon: Asian Action & Cult Flicks. Visible Ink Press. p. 19. ISBN 9781578591411.
  6. Armour of God at HKMDB
  7. Armour of God at chinesemov.com
  8. "Armour of God". TV Guide. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  9. Charles, 2000. p.15
  10. "【ジャッキーチェン興行成績】 第12回：日本での興行収入". KungFu Tube (in Japanese). 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  11. "Armour of God". Hong Kong Film Archive. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  12. "Armour of God (1987)". Hong Kong Movie Database. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  13. "Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) - Hong Kong". World Bank. 1987. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  14. "Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) - Japan". World Bank. 1987. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  15. "1986 Taiwan Box Office". National Chengchi University. Archived from the original on 21 April 2001. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  16. "Historical currency converter with official exchange rates (TWD)". fxtop.com. 31 December 1987. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  17. "【ジャッキーチェン興行成績】 第10回：韓国での興行収入". KungFu Tube (in Japanese). 5 September 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  18. "KOFIC 영화관 입장권 통합전산망". Korean Film Council (in Korean). September 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  19. Park, Seung Hyun (2000). A Cultural Interpretation of Korean Cinema, 1988-1997. Indiana University. p. 119. Average Ticket Prices in Korea, 1974-1997 [...] * Source: Korea Cinema Yearbook (1997-1998) * Currency: won [...] Foreign [...] 1987 [...] 3,500
  20. "Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) - Korea, Rep". World Bank. 1987. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  21. Gates, Anita (18 July 1997). "Jackie Chan And Babes Fight Nazis". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
  22. Thomas, Kevin (12 March 1994). "MOVIE REVIEW : 'Armour of God': Chan as an Adventurer for Hire". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  23. "Armour of God (Long xiong hu di) (Operation Condor 2) (1987)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  24. "The 100 best action movies". Time Out. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  25. "The 100 best action movies: 90–81". Time Out. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  26. "Armour of God Series (Region 3)". DVD Talk. Retrieved 30 January 2011.

Bibliography
  • Charles, John (2000). The Hong Kong Filmography , 1977–1997. McFarland. ISBN 0786408421.
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